News

SAN DIEGO – While on supervised release for two prior federal fraud convictions, Ashleigh Lynn Chavez pleaded guilty today in federal court to yet another fraud, admitting she used forged letters purportedly from her former attorney and former employer to obtain employment with a San Diego-area company. According to court documents, Chavez, 42, submitted six letters by email as part of a job application in November 2024, after she had been terminated from a human resources position at a local nonprofit organization when her criminal convictions were discovered during a background check.

SAN DIEGO – Ten-time felon Robert Stokes of San Diego was sentenced in federal court today to 10 years in prison for his latest crimes: Trafficking PCP and methamphetamine and illegally possessing multiple firearms as a convicted felon. According to court records, on August 28, 2025, members of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Narcotics Task Force and the San Diego Police Department were conducting proactive patrols in Logan Heights when they observed what appeared to be a drug sale involving Stokes and another individual. Officers stopped Stokes’ Jeep and found 67 small vials of PCP and

SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed today charging 30 alleged West Coast Crips gang members and associates with distributing large amounts of cocaine base to customers at an open-air crack market on Imperial Avenue about a mile and a half east of Petco Park. In a coordinated takedown this morning, more than 350 members of the FBI Violent Crimes Task Force – Gang Group, plus federal, state, and local law enforcement officials executed 21 search warrants on homes and vehicles in San Diego and arrested 28 defendants. As of 1 p.m, two defendants were still being sought.

SAN DIEGO – Genaro Lopez was arraigned in federal court today following his extradition from Mexico Friday in connection with allegations that he moved cocaine and other drugs into the United States via a sophisticated tunnel discovered in 2022. At the hearing, the defendant entered a not guilty plea to drug trafficking charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel E. Butcher granted the government’s request to hold Lopez without bond on grounds that he posed a serious risk of flight from prosecution.

SAN DIEGO – The United States has filed a complaint under the False Claims Act (FCA) against Laurie Holcomb, founder of multiple cannabis companies, alleging that she illegally obtained five pandemic-related loans from the federal government. The United States alleges that Holcomb secured $1.4 million in federally-guaranteed Paycheck Protection Program loans, and subsequent forgiveness of the loans, by falsely certifying under penalty of perjury on loan applications that the businesses were not involved in illegal activity.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 151 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing

SAN DIEGO – An indictment unsealed today charges Carlos Paez Pereda, aka “Carlitos,” aka “Carlitos Rugrats,” alleged high-ranking lieutenant and leader of a violent wing of the Sinaloa Cartel called “Los Rugrats,” with Narcoterrorism and Material Support of Terrorism in connection with trafficking massive amounts of fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine into the United States.

SAN DIEGO – Former San Diego County Sheriff’s Deputy Jeremiah Manuyag Flores was sentenced in federal court today to 57 months in prison for violating the civil rights of a pretrial detainee by using excessive force that caused a spinal injury, then lying in a report to cover up his illegal conduct.

SAN DIEGO – Hua Wang pleaded guilty in federal court today, admitting his involvement in a $65 million multinational fraud and money laundering scheme targeting elderly victims across the United States, including in San Diego. Videos by YouTubers from Scammer Payback and Trilogy Media helped law enforcement identify multiple defendants and uncover the structure of the fraud conspiracy.

SAN DIEGO – Randal Vance pleaded guilty in federal court today to multiple drug charges, admitting he dosed his children with hallucinogenic drugs and led a conspiracy that employed the children to help cultivate, produce and distribute the psilocybin mushrooms at locations in Fallbrook and Bonsall.

SAN DIEGO – Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of California filed 122 border-related cases this week, including charges of bringing in aliens for financial gain, reentering the U.S. after deportation, and importation of controlled substances. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is the fourth-busiest federal district, largely due to a high volume of border-related crimes. This district, encompassing San Diego and Imperial counties, shares a 140-mile border with Mexico. It includes the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the world’s busiest land border crossing

SAN DIEGO – Julianna C. Lung pleaded guilty in federal court today to health care fraud, admitting she marketed and sold hearing protection devices to United States Border Patrol agents, other federal employees, and their family members, then falsely billed insurance providers for what she claimed were medically-necessary hearing aids. According to her plea agreement, Lung submitted approximately 385 fraudulent claims to health insurance plans participating in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program. The claims falsely represented that beneficiaries suffered from hearing loss or